Misunderstanding
by Kyarorain
Summary: Misty hears Ash confessing his love and stumbles upon an unexpected sight, but is everything really what it seems? AAML.


**Misunderstanding**

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I randomly had a crazy idea and then this fic was born. Might be a little absurd, but the cuteness more than makes up for it, I hope.

Game Freak and Nintendo own Pokémon!

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Misty approached the door leading to the room she was sharing with Ash and Brock. It was starting to get late and Brock had suggested she go and see if Ash wanted to have dinner yet. Of course, he was too preoccupied with staring at a certain nurse with pink hair to do it himself so that just left Misty to do it herself. The redhead only hoped that Brock wasn't going to take advantage of her absence and attempt to flirt with Nurse Joy again.

The young girl was about to knock soundly on the door when she heard Ash speak.

"I have got something really important to tell you..."

Briefly, Misty wondered who he could be speaking to. She wasn't aware that he had any friends in there and she doubted he would be discussing serious matters with his own Pokémon. Her curiosity was aroused and she leaned against the door, putting her ear very close. As she did so, she could just make out the sound of Ash taking a deep breath.

"Okay, come on," Ash muttered in a troubled voice. "It shouldn't be that hard. How should I start?"

Misty raised a slender eyebrow, mentally counting the seconds of silence that passed by. Ash was actually lost for words? Togepi let out a faint chirp as it dangled in her arm and she quickly shushed it, not wishing for Ash to catch her eavesdropping. She just had to know what was so important to Ash. Still, knowing Ash, it could be about an upcoming Pokémon battle or what he should eat for dinner.

"Alright then." Ash cleared his throat. "Umm..."

Misty suppressed a sigh of impatience. What was this serious matter that gave Ash so much trouble?

"The day we met was the day I started my Pokémon journey and I'm glad we did. We've been together ever since and I'm also glad for that. We didn't get along so well in the beginning." At this point, Ash chuckled dryly. "But we overcame that and became great friends."

Misty's eyes grew slightly wide and her heart almost stopped.

Was Ash talking about her? She hardly dared to believe it, but it definitely sounded like it. They had met on the day Ash began his journey and it was true they didn't quite get on at first.

Then what was the important matter? Misty probably should have just gone in right then and saved Ash from having to talk to himself, but there had to be a reason why he was doing it. It was probably really serious and he wasn't ready to say it to her face just yet.

It wasn't something bad, was it? Misty felt a faint twinge of nervousness in her gut and swallowed. She wished Ash would just hurry up and keep talking already, then she would know.

"You've been with me through so much and we've had so many moments together. You make me very happy and I really like having you by my side."

Misty's face started to grow warm. Whatever this matter was, it didn't sound so bad. In fact, it was starting to sound like something that she really shouldn't be listening in on, but she still couldn't tear herself away from that door.

"Since I'm not very good at speeches, I'm just going to make this short and simple. At least I'm not acting like Brock..." Ash chuckled again.

Misty's eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. This was... a confession of love, wasn't it?

"I love you."

These were words she could never have imagined Ash ever saying to her. Now that she had heard them and she knew they were directed at her, Misty was seized with the urge to do something. It didn't occur to her that it was a bad idea to let Ash know she had been listening in on him.

Instead of stealing away and pretending she had never heard anything, which might have been the more sensible option, Misty chose to fling the door open. All commonsense had left her as she stormed into the room, catching sight of Ash sitting upon the bed.

His hands held Pikachu's paws and he appeared to be gazing deeply into the mouse Pokémon's eyes.

Mercifully, Misty didn't have to feast her eyes upon the sight for long as darkness closed in on her.

* * *

"Misty? Hey, wake up, Misty!"

A hand was rapidly patting her cheek, urging her to wake up, though she really didn't want to. Misty wanted to swim in the sea of darkness for a little while longer and not think about what she had seen. Unfortunately, Ash wasn't going to let her do that and she knew he was going to be shaking her for the next five minutes.

A soft moan filtered through her lips and Misty weakly opened her eyes, gazing up at Ash's concerned face. He looked so worried that she almost forgave him for causing her such trauma. Her body lay upon a bed where Ash had apparently moved her after she had fainted.

Ash smiled in relief as he watched her come to. "Thank goodness you're okay," he said, smiling. "How come you went and fainted so suddenly like that?"

Misty responded by giving Ash an incredulous look. He seriously had to ask her that question? Like anybody could see someone confessing their love to a tiny mouse Pokémon and think it was completely normal. Was there something wrong with him?

"Uh..." Misty couldn't quite find the right words to say. She sat up and shook her head, grimacing. "Are you kidding me? You don't know why I passed out?" Her eyes dropped toward Pikachu who sat on the bed, watching her with a happy smile. Togepi was also standing there, chirping in delight as it saw its mother figure was okay. Misty was relieved that she hadn't gone and crushed Togepi in her unexpected faint.

Ash's face grew a few shades paler and his brown eyes widened. "You... you didn't hear me, did you?" he asked in a hushed voice, swallowing thickly.

"Oh yes, I heard it alright," Misty said darkly. "I... could you please get me a glass of water? I need a drink."

Ash quickly complied, rushing to the bathroom. Misty listened to the sound of running water and took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. This was really not her day. The boy soon returned with a glass full of water which she practically snatched from his hand and she thirstily gulped down the contents.

Once she had drunk half the glass, Misty lowered it and smacked her lips together. "I can't believe it," she murmured.

"You weren't supposed to hear that." Ash looked at her with an agonised expression. "I was going to tell you when I was ready." He cast his eyes downward. "It was a shock, wasn't it?" he asked, his voice quieter.

"Of course it was a shock!" Misty exclaimed, gulping down more water. "Do you think people could accept something like this straight away? Do you have any idea what they are going to think when you tell them? Goodness, what would your mom think about this?"

Ash's eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "Well, I thought she would take it pretty well."

"What?" Misty almost choked. "Are you serious? Come on, Ash, this is just crazy. It's not healthy. I think you seriously need to get some help."

"I need to get help?" Ash sat back, regarding her with a look of surprise. "Wow, Misty, I didn't know you had such a low opinion of yourself."

"Huh?" Misty froze, her jaw becoming slack. What was he talking about now?

"Anyway, I was just having a practice talk and Pikachu was helping me out," Ash said. "I would have told you... eventually."

"P-practice?" Misty stuttered out, feeling dangerously close to fainting again. Could it be possible that she had just made a terrible mistake? Suddenly her face was very hot and she didn't think throwing the rest of her water over her face was going to fix it.

"Yeah. I thought it might help." Ash stared at her pale face, seeming confused. "Uh, Misty, are you okay?"

"Uh... I... I just..." Misty stuttered out, floundering in her embarrassment. How could she possibly tell Ash she had thought he was confessing his love to his Pokémon? It was ridiculous. "It was just a surprise, that's all."

Ash silently watched her with a serious look on his face. "Hey, Misty, you did know I was talking about you, right?"

"Y-yes, of course!" Misty squeaked, lowering her head and blushing furiously. She was so taken aback by her mistake that she couldn't even take a moment to contemplate the fact that Ash was in love with her.

"Unless... oh my God. Misty. You didn't think..." Ash trailed off, looking reviled. Misty glanced up at him sheepishly, biting down on her bottom lip. "How could you even think that?" he exclaimed, his face reddening slightly. "That's just so messed up!"

"Well, excuse me!" Misty crossed her arms defensively. "I heard you say 'I love you' and barged into the room to find you holding hands with Pikachu and looking into its eyes. What was I supposed to think? I wasn't the only one you met on the first day of your journey and didn't get along with at first."

"Huh?" Ash regarded her with suspicion. "Misty, just how much did you hear?"

"Eep." Misty was trapped. She looked around the room awkwardly. "Um... most of it. I didn't think it was going to turn out to be a love confession. It wasn't right to eavesdrop on you, I know, but I didn't think it was going to be that big a deal."

Ash dropped his head and slowly shook it. "Man, I can't believe you thought I was confessing true love to _Pikachu_. What's the matter with you? And now you know that I..." Ash broke off, his face flushing a deeper shade of red. He wasn't quite ready to talk about the matter just yet. Misty wasn't even supposed to hear that confession of love in the first place.

Misty didn't think she could discuss that particular matter right now either. Her head was still spinning like crazy and she felt incredibly confused right now. "Brock wants to know if you're going to come down to dinner soon," she said, jumping up from the bed and grabbing Togepi. "I'm feeling a bit peckish actually. How about you?"

"Um... yeah, sure. I'll come down in a minute," Ash mumbled, reaching up to rub his forehead.

* * *

"I'm such an idiot!" Misty wailed, flinging herself into the chair next to Brock, who was sitting in the lobby and watching Nurse Joy with a lovelorn expression on his face. The poor nurse was trying her best to work and ignore the fact she was being watched.

"Huh?" Brock snapped out of his reverie, glancing over to see Misty bury her head in her hands and shake violently. "Misty, what happened?" he asked concernedly.

"I did something really stupid," Misty hissed through gritted teeth. "I just accused Ash of confessing his love to Pikachu. How am I ever going to live this down? He probably thinks I'm a freak now."

"Could you start from the beginning?" Brock asked in confusion. He couldn't imagine what could possibly lead Misty to thinking Ash had romantic feelings for a small yellow mouse in the first place. "I don't really understand what you're saying."

"I was eavesdropping on him and heard him saying some speech about how much he loved me. Except then I burst into the room and saw him holding hands with Pikachu." Misty sighed and rubbed one of the points on Togepi's head, causing it to chirp happily. "I totally screwed everything up. Now Ash probably can't wait to get away from me."

"Oh wow..." Brock couldn't help the smile that suddenly stretched across his face.

Misty glanced up, catching sight of his expression. "I swear, Brock, if you start laughing about this, I am going to kill you slowly and painfully," she threatened in a venomous tone. This wasn't amusing to her in the least.

"Sorry." Brock immediately assumed a more serious look. "I'm sure Ash isn't going to hold it against you for long."

Misty exhaled slowly, sinking back into her chair. If a hole had appeared in front of her that very moment, she would quite gladly have gone and jumped into it. How could she have been so foolish?

* * *

Dinner was an uncomfortably silent affair. Brock could just feel the tension humming through the air and he saw how Ash and Misty could barely bring themselves to look at each other. If their eyes did happen to meet, they would blush and quickly look away again. Misty was far too embarrassed to strike up any kind of conversation with Ash, let alone look at him. Ash was a bit embarrassed too now that Misty knew how he felt about her and was too afraid to ask her what she thought about it just yet. His initial annoyance at her for eavesdropping and then accusing him of having romantic feelings for Pikachu had long faded away at this point. Now he really wanted to know what her answer was.

After they were done eating, Misty had finally mustered the courage to speak. "Ash?" she spoke as they put their dishes away. The dark-haired boy looked at her curiously. "Could we maybe go and talk somewhere private?"

"Huh? You mean, about that?" Ash asked. Misty nodded. "Alright."

The two left the Pokémon Center. It was getting late and there was hardly anybody out on the street. There was a bench conveniently placed nearby for them to sit down on.

"I'm sorry about everything that happened earlier," Misty spoke faintly, staring at her feet. "I bet you must think I'm a total freak now, huh?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Misty. You've always been a little crazy," Ash quipped.

Misty turned her head, giving him a warning stare. "Not helping," she stated in a dangerously low voice.

Ash raised his hands, grinning nervously. Misty was right, he supposed, it wasn't really a good time to be getting her in a bad mood. "Okay, okay, I take it back," he said hurriedly. "But you do have a pretty bizarre imagination, you know?"

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be teased about it for the rest of my life?" Misty sighed and shook her head. "You're not mad at me, are you? I shouldn't have been eavesdropping on you in the first place. What I did was wrong."

"Come on now, how could I stay mad at you?" Ash smiled reassuringly. "I wasn't really that mad in the first place. Just a bit creeped out, I suppose." He exhaled. "I should have just written the speech down instead of talking out loud. It just sounded better if I was saying it."

"Anyway, you probably want to know how I feel about it, right?" Misty guessed. Ash didn't speak as he gazed at her with wide eyes, biting down on his bottom lip. Obviously, he was quite nervous all of a sudden. "Knowing how you feel about me actually makes me happy."

"Really?" Ash's face lit up.

Misty nodded emphatically, a light blush forming over her nose and cheeks. "I've liked you a lot for a long time, but I've never really been able to say anything. Besides, you don't really seem like the kind of person to be falling in love so it was a bit of a surprise." She chuckled lightly.

"Oh, come on, Misty, I may be a bit clueless about this kind of thing but I'm not that bad. Anyway, Brock knows everything about love-"

"You already talked to Brock about this?"

"Well, I didn't mention you by name but he might have figured it out anyway."

"Huh. I suppose that explains his complete lack of surprise earlier." Misty felt just a little bit annoyed knowing Brock had been aware of it before even she had, but this wasn't the time to be getting mad at Ash. Besides, who else was Ash going to talk to about love? "So, we feel the same way about each other. That's good."

"Uh huh..." Ash looked uncertain, like he didn't have any idea what he was supposed to do next.

"So what are you waiting for?" Misty asked with a hint of impatience, though she had a smile on her face. "Kiss me already."

"Oh, right." Ash took a deep breath, and so did Misty as she waited for the moment. Their eyes closed and they both leaned forward, Ash's nose clumsily smashing into Misty's.

"Ow!"

"Oh God, Misty, did I hurt you? I'm so sorry-"

"Forget it, just try again. Let's keep our eyes open this time."

On the second attempt, Ash did manage to reach Misty's lips and they melted into a fervent kiss. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like forever. They parted, gazing at each other with goofy smiles on their faces.

"That was amazing," Misty said breathlessly.

Ash nodded. "Is your nose okay?" he asked in concern.

"Don't worry, it's fine." Misty resisted the urge to giggle, not wishing to hurt his feelings. It had been his first time after all and hers as well. "We'll get better with practice, and we're going to practice a lot, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "Don't worry. I promise not to practice with Pikachu."

Misty burned bright red. "Ash!" she exclaimed furiously, clenching her fists. "Would you not bring that up again?" As Ash started laughing, she had a horrible feeling that he wasn't going to stop. Rather, he was going to tease her about it for the rest of their lives.


End file.
